News Round-Up: December 30, 2011

I’m saving my “What to Look for in 2012? listicle for tomorrow, but one of the issues that may not make the list, but which is terribly important, is the battle in the states over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. 2011 was the year when this issue finally bubbled up to the surface (pardon the pun) and into the consciousness of the public. The critically acclaimed Gasland came out in 2010, but anti-facking forces benefited this year from some scientific revelations. Independent studies for the first time identified fracking as a cause of methane contamination and water pollution, and late in the year, the EPA agreed in a case in Wyoming.

The hype around seemingly limitless reserves of natural gas made available through the technological innovation known as hydrologic fracturing, or fracking, may be just that — hype — according a new analysis of the data behind the claims.

It has been a year rife with debate and development over the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—a method of obtaining natural gas from shale upstate by blasting a solution of water and chemicals into the ground.

This is part of our year-end series, looking at where things stand in each of our major investigations. This was the year that “fracking” became a household word. It wasn’t just that environmental concerns about the underground drilling process finally struck a mainstream chord — after three years of reporting and more than 125 stories. For the first time, independent scientific investigations linked the drilling technique with water pollution, and a variety of federal and state agencies responded to the growing apprehension about water contamination with more studies and more regulation.

U.S. prosecutors are preparing what would be the first criminal charges against BP Plc staff after the worst oil spill in U.S. history last year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

In an effort to prevent another BP-like oil spill disaster, the U.S. Coast Guard has issued “draft guidance” to its own personnel as well as the offshore drilling industry on ways in which operators, technicians and inspectors can examine some of the key components of a drilling rig — such as blowout preventers, dynamic positioning systems and emergency disconnect systems — more “holistically.”

A “culture of coverup” and inadequate cleanup efforts have combined to leave Japanese people exposed to “unconscionable” health risks nine months after last year’s meltdown of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, health experts say.

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